NothingUpMySleeve

Kids burn a TON more calories in a day than adults do. I'm not a fan of restricting out junk food completely for kids because it can lead to a sense of deprivation (especially if they see other kids eating what they want) and can cause a backlash of bingeing when they're older and can get the food for themselves. Keep their meals balanced and properly portioned. For Snacks, just make sure they're eating just ONE serving of whatever it is, even if its fruit. Teaching them what a proper portion looks like will help them later when they're more independent and you're not in control of what they eat anymore.

This is also one of my biggest concerns. I have three children, my son is 2 1/2 and my daughters(twins) are 15 months. Since I have started doing research on wls, our household's eating habits have changed drastically. Where there used to be chips and Cookies, now there are fresh fruit, vegies, low fat string cheese and yogurts. I have not cut out their Snacks, just made them healthy choices.
I am now cooking 95% of the meals that we eat and once a month we go to a sit down restaurant and we all order the healthy choices that are on the menu. My children mean the world to me and I do not want them to go through the struggle of being obese.
I am the only one in my family that is obese. All of my adult life and most of my childhood I have been told to lose weight, go on a diet, be better at being me. I do not want this for my kids. Now when someone asks me if my family is dieting (mostly when I am grocery shopping), I tell them no, this is our lifestyle. Hopefully, I can project this new me onto my children and they will make better, healthier choices.

Hi, I understand your concern. For sure genetics play a part but now that you are aware you can make sure they eat healthy. Remember, you buy the groceries, you make the food, its really up to you what they eat!

I would say first of all, switch from "not a lot of junk in the house" to "no junk in the house." Second, if you are feeding them Snacks, just give them one mid-afternoon snack. In most European cultures, adults don't regularly eat snacks and children just have one mid or late afternoon snack. They are not starving to death but they are a lot slimmer than we Americans are! This will help your children come to the meal table hungry for the healthy food you have prepared for them, Also, they will grow up understanding that you don't have to go through the day constantly noshing on something.
My sister went through this with her daughter, and in addition to restricting snacking to one afternoon snack, she worked with a dietician who specializes in children's nutrition. She learned to do these things with her daughter:
--get her involved in shopping for and preparing food, and letting her pick out her favorite veggie or her favorite main dish to be prepared once a week;
--make a variety of healthy foods and encourage her to to taste all of them, but if she doesn't want to taste it or eat it, it isn't a big deal. Just try the same food again a few weeks later. Keep trying it every few weeks!
--don't be a short order cook. If your child doesn't want their chicken, fine, they can have extra broccoli or extra brown rice or whatever else has already been prepared for the meal -- but don't make them a PB&J sandwich.
--no eating in front of screens. And for at least one meal a day, the whole family should sit down together and eat together with no electronic interruptions allowed.
Disclaimer: I'm not a parent! This is just from my sister's experience. It worked really well for her family though.

I have the same concerns for my sons (7&10). It is something we work for everyday. We discuss the importance of healthy food choices and exercise. Treats aren't labelled as bad, but as something we have occasionally. My youngest has life threatening food allergies which has made us read ingredient labels for every item we buy. We have turned label reading into a teachable moment and they are learning the difference between natural food and chemical "food". I also use their school lessons in our house to broaden their understanding. All we can do is try. Nobody is perfect but the fact that you worry about their nutrition says a lot! Hang in their and know that just by trying to find out how to help them is the biggest and most difficult first step!

Holy moly if my calves were that nice, Id be prancing around in heels and skirts every day! You don't look odd at all. You'd probably look really cute in one of those sleeveless wrap dresses.

Glad I'm not the only one. You don't realize how much of your identity is wrapped up in being "the bigger friend."

You make a good point. When I put in my contacts, I never feel like I'm just masquerading as a person with 20/20 eyesight. Hmmm.

Glad I'm not the only one. You don't realize how much of your identity is wrapped up in being "the bigger friend."

Glad I'm not the only one. You don't realize how much of your identity is wrapped up in being "the bigger friend."

Like you're just pretending to be thin? Or that when you buy something, the clerk thinks, "yeah right, fatty" even though logically you know that isn't the case? Or when someone says you look nice, do you feel like saying, "No, no, really I'm actually a fat person."
Sometimes I get these nagging feelings and it's just so annoying. For so long, I coped with the constant emotions surrounding weight loss failure--it never occurred to me how intense the feelings around weigh loss success would be. Mostly I'm happy, but then there are those moments of alien-ness and disconnection. Such a weird journey.

I have two kids, 3 and 4, that are the love of my life. My son is big but thin; my daughter is not a big eater at all but she is a bit chubby. I don't really notice it until she's around other kids and she's a lot thicker. Both kids like to swim, play outside, etc.
My husband and I are trying to build healthy family habits, and since we're both sleeved, there's not a lot of junk in the house anyway. My pediatrician isn't overly alarmed but asked us to keep an eye on it. I feel like we are doing all the things recommended for healthy kids, but I wonder if it's really possible for two parents who've battled weight to have kids that can outrun their genetic lottery toward weight gain. Thoughts?

There are hormones in fat. It isn't inert. I'm sure there is a science-y person here who can explain this better, but basically your visceral fat around the organs gets mobilized first. This is good because even though it's less visible, it's the most dangerous (says my gastroenterologist); the visceral fat is more hormonal (?) than regular fat, so when you're losing it, it's dumping a stew of stuff into your body. He said lots of Water intake helps,and since your lymph system has to process some of the toxins, he said swimming and walking really help lymph movement. I thought it sounded plausible.

There are hormones in fat. It isn't inert. I'm sure there is a science-y person here who can explain this better, but basically your visceral fat around the organs gets mobilized first. This is good because even though it's less visible, it's the most dangerous (says my gastroenterologist); the visceral fat is more hormonal (?) than regular fat, so when you're losing it, it's dumping a stew of stuff into your body. He said lots of Water intake helps,and since your lymph system has to process some of the toxins, he said swimming and walking really help lymph movement. I thought it sounded plausible.

I've been in HR a long time and had many employees come with paperwork for time off for WLS, and I always thought, "Good for you!" They frequently ask if they have to tell boss/coworkers why they'll be out and I tell them they are welcome to say anything or nothing. It isn't anyone's business.
Unfortunately, I saw the stigma that was sometimes attached to those who chose to be open about their surgery. They were perceived as somehow weak or lacking by their peers and people would act like their success wasn't "real." For some reason, people think it's ok to look down on people who seek medical help for obesity or sometimes mental health.
I am open with friends and family about the sleeve. At work, it is no one's business, and I don't want any sort of stigma attached to me. My body is not an ok topic of the workplace.

I've been in HR a long time and had many employees come with paperwork for time off for WLS, and I always thought, "Good for you!" They frequently ask if they have to tell boss/coworkers why they'll be out and I tell them they are welcome to say anything or nothing. It isn't anyone's business.
Unfortunately, I saw the stigma that was sometimes attached to those who chose to be open about their surgery. They were perceived as somehow weak or lacking by their peers and people would act like their success wasn't "real." For some reason, people think it's ok to look down on people who seek medical help for obesity or sometimes mental health.
I am open with friends and family about the sleeve. At work, it is no one's business, and I don't want any sort of stigma attached to me. My body is not an ok topic of the workplace.

I've been in HR a long time and had many employees come with paperwork for time off for WLS, and I always thought, "Good for you!" They frequently ask if they have to tell boss/coworkers why they'll be out and I tell them they are welcome to say anything or nothing. It isn't anyone's business.
Unfortunately, I saw the stigma that was sometimes attached to those who chose to be open about their surgery. They were perceived as somehow weak or lacking by their peers and people would act like their success wasn't "real." For some reason, people think it's ok to look down on people who seek medical help for obesity or sometimes mental health.
I am open with friends and family about the sleeve. At work, it is no one's business, and I don't want any sort of stigma attached to me. My body is not an ok topic of the workplace.

I am cankle-free.

I've been in HR a long time and had many employees come with paperwork for time off for WLS, and I always thought, "Good for you!" They frequently ask if they have to tell boss/coworkers why they'll be out and I tell them they are welcome to say anything or nothing. It isn't anyone's business.
Unfortunately, I saw the stigma that was sometimes attached to those who chose to be open about their surgery. They were perceived as somehow weak or lacking by their peers and people would act like their success wasn't "real." For some reason, people think it's ok to look down on people who seek medical help for obesity or sometimes mental health.
I am open with friends and family about the sleeve. At work, it is no one's business, and I don't want any sort of stigma attached to me. My body is not an ok topic of the workplace.

I've been in HR a long time and had many employees come with paperwork for time off for WLS, and I always thought, "Good for you!" They frequently ask if they have to tell boss/coworkers why they'll be out and I tell them they are welcome to say anything or nothing. It isn't anyone's business.
Unfortunately, I saw the stigma that was sometimes attached to those who chose to be open about their surgery. They were perceived as somehow weak or lacking by their peers and people would act like their success wasn't "real." For some reason, people think it's ok to look down on people who seek medical help for obesity or sometimes mental health.
I am open with friends and family about the sleeve. At work, it is no one's business, and I don't want any sort of stigma attached to me. My body is not an ok topic of the workplace.

Well I started the summer season with my kids today by going to the local Water park. Even though I have lost 100 lbs since last summer, I found myself still getting nervous while driving there....keep the cover up on or take it off were my thoughts. I decided to ditch the cover up and go with bathing suit only. Even with all my loose skin, I felt good having the confidence to not wear a cover up over my suit for the first time in over 10 years. I also had the best time climbing the water jungle gym with my 5 yo daughter. Now you must know that this area has water pouring from every direction, slides, climbing nets, a ton of stairs, and the need to dodge children of all ages at a moments notice. I managed all of this with skill and grace...well maybe not grace. It felt amazing to be able to run around, climb stairs, NOT afraid that I would get stuck in the slide on the way down and actually not getting stuck in any part of the smaller spaces of this contraption.
Another reason to be happy with my choice of having the sleeve done. I say this everyday but today it really hit home "BEST THING I EVER DID FOR MYSELF and MY FAMILY"!!!
Hope others had a good day and if you didn't....please have a good one tomorrow.

I believe that the "just eat less and move more" approach has like a 95% failure rate when it comes to anything more than about 20 lb. but sleeve surgery fails less than 10% of the time, or something like that. You can google stats. You are the one who lives in your body. Good luck.

I believe that the "just eat less and move more" approach has like a 95% failure rate when it comes to anything more than about 20 lb. but sleeve surgery fails less than 10% of the time, or something like that. You can google stats. You are the one who lives in your body. Good luck.

I've lost at least half my hair volume. Have taken all recommended supplements and so forth.
Interestingly, my hair and nails are growing insanely fast. So I might end up with only 3 pieces of hair left, but hey they'll be long.

I've lost at least half my hair volume. Have taken all recommended supplements and so forth.
Interestingly, my hair and nails are growing insanely fast. So I might end up with only 3 pieces of hair left, but hey they'll be long.